One dish down the table that I considered getting was the aji de panza ($7.95). The tripe stew with potatoes and peas was being enthusiastically consumed by my friend Mike, who said he doesn't usually like the Italian versions, which can get too enthusiastic with tomatoes. The juices here tasted robust but only light red, and sampling the tripe brought me a smile. The bland organ meat had picked up a nice flavor and also was cooked to tenderness.
My main course arrived last and was formidable enough to need its own table. No kidding. Fortunately, I was sitting at an end of our long table, so that was no problem. The parrillada a Los Andes ($18.95) was in a large steel serving dish, blue flame below and glass cover on top. Inside was a medley that would impress any carnivore roaming a veldt: five slabs of meat, two thin but huge, including rib-eye and grilled chicken. (The menu had specified chorizo and "chicken tenders," but the replacements were OK, marinated and all tender.) There could have been more yucca with that quantity, but the arroz con queso was a tastier complement. The accompanying salad was generous with radicchio and even had a pile of potato salad on top, like a whipped cream lagniappe.
The Bolivian Restaurant is no longer. Long live the Bolivian-Peruvian Los Andes.
Bill Rodriguez can be reached at bill@billrod.com.
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